Index device



June 1,1926. 1,586,529

' W. H. HOLMES INDEX DEVICE Filed Oct. 19, 1922 I 50 INVENTOR. 55 WpL/A VfifiLMES.

J. g ES Patented June 1, 1926;

UNITED STATES WILLIAM H HOLMES, OE MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK.

INDEX DEVICE.

Application filed October 19, 1922. Serial No. 595,476.

My invention has reference to a filing system and 311115 to provide a devlce for use 1n tl11s connection which Wlll be of peculiar value for the purposes of indexing and filing,

and which device will embody novel construction.

It is a well appreciated fact that any number of devices have been pr'oposed-ifor use in connection with filing and indexing systems which devices include a backing sheet or mounting member, with which a pluralityof cards are removably associated, these cards being in turn movable with respect to each other, one of the edge portions of each of the cards extending beyond the edges of others of the same so that a portion of each card is at all times visible.

. Specifically stated the association of these cards with the mounting member has usually been accomplished by bending portions of the latter to provide oppositely extending grooves within which the ends of supporting bars slide, these bars being usually formed with inturned end portions to which clip members are rockingly attached, these latter members in turn engaging and retaining an index card or similar device.

Numerous objections have been noted to the use of these devices, and probably the paramount criticism to the same is directed to their expense as well as to the fact that these devices are of relatively heavy construction and thus are adaptable in most instances, to only a permanent record system. A further ob ection has arisen in that it has been difficult to remove the cards together with their associated bars from the member mounting -the same. Also a pull upon any one of the cards has been likely to result in the same becoming accidentally detached from the clip members, unless the latter were applied to the cards in a virtuallypermanent manner. Also when a card has been removed from these hinge members, the latter, due to the fact that they are usually carried by the "inturned end portions of the bar have fallen from the same.

With these and numerous other objects in mind my invention includes a device for use in connection with index andfiling systems, which device, similar to others heretofore Aproposed, will include a base or mounting member carrying supporting bars, the latter in turn each having a card aflixed to their-body. However, contrary to conventional construction, the elements aforenamed will be so devised and arranged as to present a simple construction capable of being manufactured and sold at a relatively low figure, aside fromthe fact that a device embodying my improved construction need not necessarily form a part of a permanent record in that the same is light and compact, so that my present invention is applicable for use in numerous adaptations in which heretofore a system of this nature has not been practical.

A further object of my invention is that of providing an indexing device in which the supporting bars will normally remain in any desired position with respect to the member upon which they are mounted, but in which an operator is readily capable of shifting the parts as desired, aside from the fact that the bars and cards carried thereby may readily beremoved from the mounting member when this is to be accomplished.

A still further object of my invention is that of furnishing a device of the character stated by means of which all parts of the cards or other elements forming the record proper are available without removing the same from the system, so that notations may be made, and these notations may be read with all of the parts in an assembled position.

Another object of this invention is that of attaching each card, or other element utilized, to the supporting bar therefor in such a manner that an accidental removal of the cards from the device is precluded, but by means of which this card may readily be removed when this is desired, aside from the fact that where clips in the nature of hinges are employed, these latter will be disposed upon the bar in such a manner as to prevent the same from being accidentally detached therefrom subsequent to the removal 'of the card. I

With these and other objects in mind the present invention includes essentially a mounting member embracing a pair of rails upon which supporting-bars are mounted, these latter elements in turn supporting cards or other suitable indexing means.

Reference is had to the attached sheet of drawings as illustrating practical embodiments of my invention, and it will be seen in these views that;

Figure 1 is a face view of an index device embodying my improved construction and showing certain of the parts broken away to disclose underlying construction.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the line 22 and in the direction of the arrows indicated in Fig. 1.

Figs. 3 and 4 are transverse views of different types of supporting bars.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional side view of oneof the supporting bars of the type' shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary face view of a further form of bar and showing the same in association with the rails;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional plan view taken along the line 77- and in the direction of the arrows indicated in Fig. 6.

' Fig. 8 is an enlarged transverse view taken along the line 88 and in the direction of the arrows indicated in Fig. 6. i

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fi showing astill further form of associated structure.

Fig. 10 is a plan view of the bar proper as shown in Fig. 9, and I Fig. 11 is an enlarged transverse viewtaken along the line 1111 and in the direction of the arrows indicated in Fig. 9.

As afore brought out the present inven tion includes a mounting member to which cards are movably attached, this attachment being effected by the medium of supporting bars and rails. Thus as in Figs. 1 and 2 the reference numeral 15 indicates a backing sheet which may be utilized, and which 6 but serves to mount rails 16, which in the present embodiment are in the nature of stifi wires.

Mounted upon these rails are supporting barswhich may be of any of the types shown in Figs. 3, 4, 6 or 9, or may be other wise suitably constructed. Referring to the first type of bar which is shown in Fig. 3 it will be noted that the same includes a body 17, the ends of which are bent inwardly upon itself as at 18, thence being again bent upon themselves and extending outwardly as at 19, while those portions of the bar adjacent the outermost ends thereof are again bent to extend inwardly as at 20. By this expedient it will be understood that a supporting member is provided which includes a bar, in the ends of which notches 21 are presented,-these notches being of suflieient width to accommodate the. rails, which as aforestated may be in' the nature of wires 16.

Thus contrary to conventional construction of filing devices, it will be seen that the bars ride upon the rails and not within grooves, and it will be obvious that.a device of this nature may be rea ily and economically constructed, and that a detachment of the bars from the rails may'readily be effected upon the parts being deliberately manipulated to. achieve this. result.

ar and .as in Fig. 4 in which a body 22 is provided, the ends of which are preferably hookshaped, as at 23, and are bent to extend slightly inwardly. -The body 22 in this instance corresponds substantially to the distance which should exist between the outer edges of the rails and it will be obvious that the ends of a supporting bar of this type may readily be clipped around the rails as in Figs. 1 2 and 4, so that by utilizing one bar of this nature together with a certain number of bars of usual construction, it will be understood that any tendency of the rails to spread will be efiicaciously counteracted.

Although the rails may be attached to the mounting member in any'desired manner, T. prefer particularly where the former are of the nature shown in the drawing, to render the same detachable from the mounting sheet by bending their end portions inwardly upon their bodies, as at 24, and sub sequently outwardly as at 25. Thus in assembling the device and prior to the association of the supporting bars with the rails, these rails may be flexed to cause the hookshaped end portions thereof to extend through openings 26 in the sheet and subsequently upon the rails being released, the latter will assume the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. It is to be noted in this connection that due to the fact that the bend 24 is not alone extended inwardly, but also sidewise, any tendency of: the rails to shift will be counterbalanced incident to the fact. that a proper bearing surface will be provided between them and the mounting sheet 15. Also due to the fact that the supporting bars shown in Figs. 3 and 4 each present what might be termed a notch portion intheir ends or adjacent their ends, which notch portion straddles the rails, any twisting or turning of the supporting bars with respect to the rails will be prevented. Further it will be noted that in order to attach a card 27 or other device to each of the bars in such a manner that the same may readily be rocked around the bar for the purpose of presenting opposite faces of the former, I associate hinge members with these bars. These hinge members, although capable of being of any desired type are each preferably of the nature shown in Figs.

3 and 5 and it will be noted in these views that this hinge member includes a strip of metal having its body bent upon itself as at 28 and one end of the strip is bent downwardly and inwardly upon its body as at 29, and extends substantially parallel to the tion of the strip lying between the parts 28 and 29 thereof. This book provides a clip which is attached to the body 17 of the bar, and the portions 28 and 29 of the strip provide a clip suitable for the retention of the card 27 by engaging the edge thereof. I have found by this type of construction that ahinge member thus constituted is firmly retained against accidental detachment from its bar or from the card. Thus the latter may freely be rocked around the bar, and upon a deliberate manipulation of the arts the card may be detached from the hinge member while the latter .may in turn be detached from the bar. Also it will be seen that incident to the fact that the hinge member is applied to the bar body instead of the ends thereof, that contrary to conventional types of filing device of this nature, these members will not be in danger of dropping clear of the bar upon the card being detached.

The same result may be accomplished by means of the constructions shown in Figs. 6 to 11, and it will be noted with respect to the first of this group of fi ures, i. e. 6 to 8, that the reference numera 31 identifies a straight bar, the ends of which terminate adjacent the rails. These ends are extended into recesses 32 forming a part of each of the members 33 which latter present notch portions 34, and these members correspond to the bent end portions of the bar shown in Figs. 3 and 4, or in other words present a notch suitable for en agement with the rail. Thus the bar 31 may rotated with respect to the members 33 when the card is to beviewed, and hence the clip members 35 for attaching the card to the bar 31 may be afiixed to this bar.

If it is not desired to utilize the clip members35, a substitute may be provided and the inherent resiliency of the bar may be materially enhanced "by coiling certain portions of the same, as has been indicated at 36, in Figs. 9 to 11. These coiled portions, as in Figs. 9 and 11 serve to retain the card and also increase the resiliency of the bar as aforebrought out so that no danger of the same becoming accidentally detached from the rails will exist.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that the objects of this invention have been accomplished, in that an extremely simple form of construction is provided, which will be very efficient in use, lncident to the bars riding on the rails in such a manner that the cards are at all times retained in the position in which they are deliberately placed, this result being true of any of the types of supportlng bars which I have shown in the appended drawing. Also incident to the fact that the hinges or clip members pass around the body of the bar in lieu of the ends thereof, it will be understood that cards may readily be removed from these members Without the latter becoming accidentally detached from the bars. Further these hinge members will serve to effectively retain thecards in proper position, the same being also true of the type of clip shown in Figs. 6 and 9, while finally due to the'fact that the rails are rendered removable from the supporting sheet, and also due to the simplicity of the entire construction, the presentdevice lends itself to numerous applications in which prior inventions of this general type heretofore have been impractical.

It will be understood that numerous modifications of structure and rearrangements of the parts mightbe resorted to without in the least-departing from the spirit of my invention, which I claim as;

1. An index device including rails, cardcarrying bars presenting notches into which said rails are adapted to extend, and a mounting member for said rails and extending to one side thereof, the cards carried by saitll bars extending to the other side of said rat s. a

2. An index device including rails, cardcarrying bars, rail-embracing portions forming a part of said bars, and a mounting member for said rails and extending to one side thereof, the cards carried by said bars extending to the other side of said rails.

3. An index device including rails, bars extending between said rails, and members rotatably attached to the ends of said bars and presenting notch portions adapted to engage said rails whereby to mount said bars upon the same.

4. An index device including mounting means, cardcarrying bars formed with oppositely extending notch-portions within which said means extend, said means being intimately engaged by the bases of said noteh-portions whereby to normally retain said bars fixed with respect thereto.

' 5. An index device including in combination bars and hinge members rotatably encircling said bars, said hinge members comprising a strip bent to provide a. detachable bar-engaging portion and a card clip.

6. An index device including in combination a bar, and a hinge member attached to said bar, said hinge member including a strip of material having one of its ends bent in the form of a hook, its body being bent upon itself and in substantial contact with the inner face of the hook shank, its second end portion being bent inwardly and substantially parallel to said body.

rying member, said member having the ends of its body bent to provide notch-portions engaging said portions.

8. An index device including a. mounting member formed with openings, rails having their ends'bent in the form of hooks adapted to extend into said openings,v and bars mounted between said rails.

9. An index device including a pair of spaced rails, and a card-carrying bar having its ends bent to provide outwardly opening1 notch-portions adapted to engage said rai s.

10. An index device, including a bar-supporting means providing a pair of edge portions, :1 card-carrying bar of a length substantiallyequal to the distance between said edge portions, and inwardly-extending hookshaped end portions forming a part of'said bar and yieldably bearing against said edge portions.

11. An index device, including a pair of spaced rails, a plurality of card-carrying bars, and means forming a part of said bars providing outwardly-opening notch portions at the ends of certain of the same and inwardly-opening notch portions at the ends of others of the same, sald rails lying within said notch portions.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this 17th day of October, A. D. 1922.

WILLIAM H. HOLMES. 

